Mommy {Guilt} Vacation

Many jobs offer a couple of weeks of paid vacation each year. Mine does. I usually take those days during the holidays, kids’ school vacation, and the occasional family trip or getaway with Husband. I enjoy those vacation days. I have earned those vacation days.

This week it dawned on me that I have also put in enough time to qualify for a couple of weeks of vacation each year from the ever-present mommy guilt. You know what I’m talking about. That little voice that calls you a failure if your kids are picky eaters or throw a tantrum or still don’t seem to tight-rope walk on command. Sometimes I call that voice Pinterest, but when I’m being honest, I know it’s really just me. This little voice, my voice, is ever present in my own head.

But not this week. Actually, not for the next TWO WEEKS.

A couple of days ago, I decided to give myself a two-week vacation from that little pesky voice. We will be on a real vacation for about 5 days during this time frame, but I decided that my guilt-free vacay should start immediately. I also decided that I should get to enjoy this time in the comfort of my own home, not just during some short stint in a rental (where real-life rules rarely apply anyway).

   

These are the tenants that will guide me through:

I will not fight with my kids about broccoli. If the only ‘fruit’ they eat for the next couple of weeks is applesauce and the occasional banana, so be it. I will take a break from this battle. To that end, if we only eat cereal for dinner, I’m good with that, too.

We will lie on the couch and snuggle and watch TV. We will not try to cram kinder-prep books or worksheets or activities into the very few, precious hours I have with my kids between the end of the work day and bedtime. We will snuggle and laugh and just relax. (And, before you suggest playing outside, just come visit us in our little rain-soaked, mosquito laden, 98% humidity piece of Texas.)

We will not hurry up for anything. We will slow down. If we are late, we are late. If we miss something, we miss something. I will not stress about the little things. That includes bedtimes and evening routines and all of our other daily struggles. If it happens, it happens. In the meantime, we will just be.

We might wear pajamas and/or swim suits in public. We {might} do this while on our actual vacation. We {might} do this when leaving from our own home. Who cares? I sure don’t.

I will respond to requests with a lot of mmm-kays and whatev’s… I am so, so tired of saying no all the damn time. Mmm-kay? Right now, I don’t care. If you’re not bleeding, choking, or in danger of those things happening, it’s all good. You want cookies for dinner? If you can get them for yourself, go for it!

I should be clear, that I will not use these tenants as excuses for a lapse in general parenting. My kids will be clothed, fed, cleaned, and loved daily. These are merely guidelines for my own brain to stop obsessing over all those little details that tend to drive me a little batty.  

Mommy needs a break, and the time is now.